Village Schools of the Bible

WHY DO VILLAGE SCHOOL STUDENTS
WRITE ESSAYS?
by Monty Sholund

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Village School method of Bible teaching is the use of essay-writing as an educational device. Since the above question is posed so frequently, it may be useful to give some explanation for the philosophy supporting this approach.

An even cursory reading of the New Testament will bring at least three particular expectations into prominence:

1. The making of "disciples" is the purpose of the preaching of the Gospel. Nowhere in the Bible is it even vaguely suggested that it was ever intended that "making a decision to accept Christ" was the ultimate goal of the salvation message. Christ's command in Matthew 28:19,20 was to "make disciples." And becoming a disciple means more than only having my sins forgiven.

2. It is obvious that the purpose of being taught is to enable one to teach effectively. We find Paul in particular stressing that every believer is, in a sense, a teacher. In fact, he at times becomes indignant because some believers seemed to be content to hear, over and over again, the principles of salvation, with no intention of teaching it to others.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Hebrews 5:11-14

3. The purpose of the "new birth" then is "new growth" and a major responsibility of the church is the careful development of its members, personally and particularly. It was never intended that the goal of a church should only be a weekly gathering of its members to hear over and over again familiar preaching. Where there is life there must be growth, for without growth there is no reason for having received life in the first place. An important characteristic of healthy life is the desire to reproduce.

A popular, current topic for the writers of books and conveners of seminars is "Making Disciples." People read the books and attend the seminars, they applaud the stimulation of the sessions and admire the skill of the teachers.

Then many go home, refreshed by the change of venue and speaker, but generally with little intention of either being discipled or making disciples. If this were not such a common occurrence, such purchase of books and attendance at seminars would obviously be recognized as being rather ludicrous. When the purpose of attending a seminar is just attendance at the seminar, then the ultimate benefit is lost. One studies education courses in a University for the purpose of becoming a teacher. If he can't teach, he hasn't learned. One goes to medical school for the purpose of practicing medicine. If he doesn't eventually become a doctor, then the time and costs expended are an ironic farce.

Professor A. N. Whitehead, in his valuable book, The Aims of Education and Other Essays, says, "Education is an art of the utilization of knowledge, an art very difficult to impart. But an education that does not begin by evoking initiative and end by encouraging it must be wrong. For its whole aim is the production of active wisdom."

True education must, in fact, be concerned with forming attitudes. It must be as concerned with motivation as well as information. The information must be correctly and enthusiastically imparted, but the manner of instruction is as important as content, and perhaps even more important. This means that mere enthusiasm alone is of little value. The enthusiasm must be provocative, but its results must rouse the learner not only to appreciate the value of the material being taught but to eagerly want to teach it as well. For unless the student can effectively teach, the teacher has perhaps entertained him, but talking is not necessarily teaching, and listening is not necessarily learning. The results of effective teaching can never be determined in the lecture-hall, nor can it be evaluated merely by factual tests. The focus of true teaching is on the student, more than the subject. Teaching must be strongly involved in stimulating the student to want to study on his own initiative and to encourage him in the process of this self-development.

Many classes on discipling are characterized by the discipler doing most of the talking, the teacher doing the instruction, dominating the situation because of his skills and experience. The disciple listens, takes notes, answers questions, memorizes principles and seeks to respond to the discipler's instructions and expectations. However, an important part of teaching is to allow the student to think for himself, to evaluate, to express, be recognized for his initiative in thought and his written or spoken statements. We have found that it's what the disciple thinks and says that matters. We can give him principles of the Christian life, refer him to many reference sources, and even impress him with our own knowledge and competence but it is only when the student is personally excited about the fullness of the Christian life that we can say we have taught him. And when he has become motivated, he will do the research on his own.

Some Bible study classes use little books which have little fill-in lines. Sometimes the blanks demand real contemplative and creative thought, but alas many times the answers are so obvious as to seem trivial to the thinking student. As a result the members of these classes remain "little" in their growth in the Christian life. A little research will surface the fact that many Christians are very frustrated by their inability to measurably grow in their understanding of Scripture. Many times this is not their fault. We as leaders have often neglected to provide the educational environment for real intellectual, as well as spiritual, growth. We forget the important teaching of the Apostle who tells us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Rom. 12:1,2)

Therefore, we have learned that an essay is a useful vehicle for the students' exercise of initiative, research and expression. The requirement of writing an essay seems daunting to many students, since many have never naturally associated Christian Education with the accountable responsibility of preparation and presentation. However, students soon realize that the essay need not be a scholarly research paper. It is an opportunity for self-expression, at whatever depth or extent, and the whole exercise becomes both a challenge and a long-unknown opportunity for individual thought.

We remind students, "What you dig out is yours!" What I dig out is essentially mine. Even though my teaching may be excellently illustrated with charts, transparencies and teaching equipment, it remains pretty much mine. You can copy the material, and memorize it, but you will easily forget it. But what you have dug out yourself, from the very choice of the topic to the search in reference material and finally to the organization and writing of the essay, is yours forever, never to be forgotten.

Therefore, we dare to tackle the reading and study of the entire Bible in a brief period of only nine months. Obviously the study is cursory and the whole process merely introductory, but every student has at the end of that period read through the entire Bible and has written thirty-six essays, covering every major section of Scripture, and written three tests as well. We expect our students to commit themselves to arranging their lives so they can find at least six hours a week for this study. There are, as in every teaching situation, some students whose motivation has not been effectively stimulated and they unfortunately defer preparation until the day or so before the weekly class. However, there are many students for whom this guided, encouraged and stretching opportunity of personal study has been the beginning of a life-time of familiarity with the Scriptures, a growing hunger to know the Lord and inevitably a desire to be used as teachers, as disciplers, as well.

The missing word in many church-related educational programs is "accountability." Yet this is a fundamental requisite in every effective secular teaching institution. When a student enters a good high school he is accountable for attendance and class preparation. A lack of accountability does two things: it diminishes in the eyes of the student respect for the school and it can even engender an attitude of irresponsibility and laziness. No university could function without demanding accountability from its students, no medical school would dare to accept medical students who were not accountable to their teachers, in both preparation and attitude. Yet many churches have, for some astonishing reason, ignored this essential requirement in both program and policy. It is not surprising then that many members of many churches, evangelical or liberal, are essentially Biblically illiterate. Furthermore, an expectation that members, in general, should be able to know and teach the Bible would be considered by many as unrealistic.

At the 25th Annual Convention of the Evangelical Press Association, George Cornell, religious editor of the Associated Press, said:

"The greatest weakness in Christianity today is its failure to teach. Biblical education amongst Protestants is in shambles. In fact, some Christians have little more than a kindergarten concept of their faith. The general situation is a kind of Biblical illiteracy and a virtual blank about theology."

When we returned to America in 1982, I was eager to make available this method of accountable, systematic study of Scripture, emphasizing the student's skill and personal study initiative. I invited eight local pastors to share some thoughts about making available a disciplined study survey of the Scripture. They seemed uniformly friendly but educationally disinterested. When the session was over, one minister remained behind. He spoke very sincerely and I could sense his concern.

"Brother Monty, we are impressed by your enthusiasm and love for the Scriptures, but I must warn you: your method may work in Africa where people obviously aren't so pressed for time and harassed by distractions, but it will never work here. I tell you this, in case you should go ahead and find yourself in great disappointment and failure. I am well known as a good Bible teacher. I have a Bible study on Wednesday nights, yet almost nobody comes. I don't require them to write essays, I don't require them to pay as you do, and yet they don't come. I don't require anything of them, but they still don't come. Everybody here is too busy. We're glad when they can at least find the time to get to church on Sundays. By the way," he continued, "do they have TV in Africa?"

I could only answer, "Well, brother, perhaps the fact that you expect little of your people explains why you get little in return."

The weeks went by. I distributed a simple folder, announcing the course, explaining its main features. We set the beginning day to be the first Tuesday in September. By the last week in August, only two had registered. My heart was heavy, and common sense told me that my ministerial brother was right. But when the Tuesday night came around, forty people registered for a year of studies. It turned out to be one of the best years of my life.

Since that day, nine years ago, more than 900 have registered for at least one course in the Village Schools, located in more than 50 churches with students from 15 denominations.

May this sharing encourage some to begin to take seriously that strong but precise command in 2 Timothy 2:15: "Do your best to be an approved workman, effectively handling the Word of truth, unashamed before God." May the Day of His Appearing not find us disobedient to this clear-cut command, indifferent to opportunities for growth and study. May we stop neglecting our responsibility to truly know and love the Lord. May we eagerly seek His fullness by being filled with His Word so that our needy world may know and love Him, too.